Wednesday

Reed topped Mitrano 122,881 to 100,495, earning 55 percent of the vote, according to unofficial reports. There are a total of 18,044 absentee votes in the district.

“I just received a call from Mitrano and she gracefully conceded the race,” Reed told a large crowd of supporters at about 11:30 p.m. at the Radisson Hotel Corning late Tuesday. “Two years ago we started this journey again, and I will tell you we went out there and we stood in those town halls. We stood for what we believe in and the silent voice of the district spoke loud and clear tonight."

Yates County favored Reed 4,317 to 3,111.

Reed said he will continue to show up and speak in front of crowds at town halls.

“We are going to continue to open our arms to anyone who wants to have a serious conversation about solving the problems for America,” Reed said. “But we will not do it in a way where you are screaming, cursing, mocking and your not engaging in the conversation in a respectful way. It is truly time to come together.”

“While I’m disappointed in the ultimate results, I am also exceedingly proud and grateful to have had the chance to run in this race,” Mitrano said. “I want to thank every single person who was a part of this movement, every single person who supported this effort over the past 16 months. We didn’t win this time, but it would be wrong to call our movement a failure. We brought an energy and a unity to this district that hasn’t been seen here for a long time.

“Though we fell short in the final vote count, our work is not over. We must continue to strive to restore decency, compassion, and integrity to our politics. We must continue to call for affordable health care and education, for better infrastructure and environmental protections. It will mean more hard work, but I know that we can succeed. If there’s one thing I know about the people of NY-23, it’s that we never give up.”

Reed, who was re-elected to his fourth two-year term, thanked many of his supporters Tuesday night during a victory announcement at his election night party at the Radisson.

“Any election night you always have to take a moments just to thank the volunteers,” Reed said. “Thank the supporters. They’re in this fight with us and it doesn’t happen without them and so we are just humbled by the support.”

Reed won all but one of the counties in the 23rd Congressional District, which includes Chautauqua, Cattaraugus, Allegany, Steuben, Yates, Schuyler, Seneca, Tompkins and Chemung counties and parts of Ontario and Tioga counties. Mitrano handily won Tompkins County.